Universities across the country may witness strikes in 2024 due to the small budget allotted to the education sector and poor remuneration, the Academic Staff Union of Universities, (ASUU), has said.
Speaking in an interview on Monday, its National president, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, explained that during the campaign and election earlier this year, President Bola Tinubu promised to increase the Education sector to at least 15 percent or over.
Similarly, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation, (UNESCO), also recommended for member States, a 26 percent benchmark allocation for the education sector.
He lamented that Nigeria was the country with the least remuneration for professors, globally. Osodeke, however, said that ASUU was dejected when the 2024 education budget was announced to be N2.18tr, or 7.9 percent of the total Budget. He reiterated that It was the same figure during the Buhari administration, adding that not much progress would be made in the sector; if the budget was not increased.
Osodeke advised the Government to meet with the cabinet members and increase the budget to 15, or more.
National president, The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, (ASUP), Dr. Anderson Ezeibe, also told newsmen, “It is demoralising to see the allocation follow the same trend as in the past ”.
